This Summer is Different
by yellow notepaper
Summary: Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny are staying at the Weasley's for a relaxed summer away from their hectic adult lives. However, it's not as much of a break as they thought it would be... [hr.rw]
1. Chapter 1

_**This Summer is Different**_

_**By Yellownotepaper**_

**Chapter One**

"Hey, Ginny," said Harry, sitting down next to her in the kitchen. He was uncomfortable close, however Ginny did not want to move away, for it would seem rude.

"Harry," Ginny greeted him, trying not to look at him.

"So, Ginny," Harry began, fiddling with his shirt. "I was wondering…I got these tickets and – "

"Harry," Ginny interrupted him. "I don't like you that way. I'm sorry."

"Harry looked surprised and a little hurt, but quickly hid it and said, "Oh, yeah, me too! I just wanted to know if you wanted to go as friends!"

Ginny inwardly rolled her eyes at the feeble excuse. "That would be lovely."

Hary grinned, but his eyes were still sad. "Well," he said uncomfortably, getting up. "I should probably be going. I think…I think I hear Mrs. Weasley calling me." With that, he strode away from her and out of sight. Ginny stared sadly at his retreating form, old feelings stirring inside of her, swirling around in her headand fogging her thoughts.

_It's Harry, _said a voice inside her head. _Harry Potter, girl! The boy you've always dreamed about! What are you doing?_

'Be quiet,' Ginny thought angrily. 'I don't like him anymore.'

Ginny Weasley stood up and pushed in her chair, rattling the teacup she had placed on the table a few minutes before. She walked up the stairs until she reached the attic, where she slammed the door and leaned against it, breathing heavily. She was so confused!

When Ginny had almost asked Harry out in her 5th year, his 6th, she had thought for sure he would say yes. He had no girlfriend (which turned out to be untrue), and he had been hanging out with her recently and getting to know her better. He ended up breaking her innocent, vulnerable heart.

"_Hey," said Ginny, falling in step with Harry Potter as they walked to the Great Hall together._

"_Hey yourself," Harry teased her._

"_Um," Ginny stumbled, her books slipping in her sweaty hands. "You know that there is a Hogsmeade trip this weekend, right?"_

"_Yeah," said Harry dreamily. "And you'll never guess who I'm going with!"_

_Ginny's heart filled with joy as she tried to hide her excitement. _This is it,_ her mind screamed. _This is when he's going to ask you out! _"Um," said Ginny, deciding to play innocent. "Who?"_

"_Cho," said Harry, his eyes unfocused as he daydreamed about the beautiful 7th year. Ginny stared unbelievably at him._

"_Cho?" she squeaked, her voice cracking._

"_Yeah, Cho," said Harry. "I thought for sure she would say no, I mean, she's so beautiful! But she said that she had been secretly crushing on me for almost a year!"_

_Ginny's eyes filled with tears, and she bit her lip to stop it from trembling. _I've been fancying you longer,_ her head screamed._

"_Well," Ginny said, her eyes threatening to overflow any moment, "I just remembered, I have to, um…" Not knowing what to say, she ran off down the hall. Harry, who had just noticed Cho leaving the lavatory, did not notice her departure, and instead waltzed up to Cho and took her arm._

"_May I escort you to lunch, my fair lady?"_

"_I would be honored."_

Shaking away her horrible past memories, she began looking at the boxes that were lying, dusty and ragged, on the creaky old floor. Picking up the first one she could find, she carefully took the tape off the top and opened it, coughing a bit at the dust that sprung out of the box. Waving a hand to clear away the dust, she came across all of her old notebooks from Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Most had "Virginia Potter" and such written inside instead of lessons, which brought back a swarm of memories of long, boring History of Magic classes.

She clutched the book to her chest, taking in the smell of age and, of course, Hogwarts. Holding back her tears, she decided that her mother would be happy to see this.

"Hey, Mum!" She called down the stairs, until she realized that her mother was in the kitchen, and could not possibly have heard her.

"What do you want, Ginny!" Ron shouted angrily from within his old room.

"Never mind, Ron!" Ginny yelled irritably and rolled her eyes.

Instead of Apparating downstairs, she ran down all of the flights of stairs delightedly, enjoying the sheer childishness. Just the thought of running brought back memories from childhood... with her robes billowing behind her, and her hair sloppily plastered against her freckled forehead. As she reached the bottom of the stairwell, Ginny stumbled and tripped on the small, raised platform that marked the doorway into the Weasley kitchen. Flailing her arms wildly did not help, and inevitably fell flat on her face.

"Ginny!" both Harry and Mrs. Weasley gasped. Bill couldn't help sniggering, which ultimately led to a crazed bout of laughter that involved rolling on the floor and struggling for breath. Harry rushed over to help her up, and Ginny's shoulders were soon heaving up and down. At first, he took her to be crying, for tears were streaming down her face. Mrs. Weasley was beside herself with worry.

"Are you okay?" she inquired, intensely concerned.

"I'm – fine," Ginny managed to blurt out, having just conquered a laughing attack to rival Bill's. As she caught her breath, she continued, "It makes me feel young again!"

She then plopped down at the large dinner table, sitting right across from her relieved mother.

"You're young," said Bill, still laughing.

"23?" said Ginny, as if that made some sort of hard-core point.

"What's that, Ginny?" Mrs. Weasley pointed at the notebook Ginny had brought from the attic.

"Oh, it's one of my old notebooks from Hogwarts. I was actually coming downstairs to show it to you... I suppose I kind of forgot about that step..." she added sheepishly.

Bill coughed loudly, masking another snigger. Mrs. Weasley shot him a look, and at once, he acquired his innocent face. Ginny handed the book to her, and observed how much it lit up her old and weathered face. Pushing a tendril of grey hair out of her vibrant hazel eyes, Mrs. Weasley gently leafed through her daughter's memories, genuinely beaming. She smiled, the wrinkles framing her fragile lips pressing together, as she remembered how much younger they had all been when the notebook had been written in. She glanced at her beautiful daughter, tears filling her sparkling eyes, and wrapped her up in a warm embrace.

"I think it was from my 3rd year," Ginny said once her mother had let go, "Because it has stuff about Mad-Eye."

"May I see? I would love a few memories of something other than yesterday's breakfast." Ginny eyed Harry a bit uncomfortably, but then shrugged and surrendered the notebook. As he paged through it unhurriedly, his eyes widened and he began to chuckle.

"Did you really like me this much?" He asked playfully, and pointed to a page that had nothing on it but "Mrs. Harry Potter," and "Virginia Anne Potter." Ginny turned a deep shade of crimson and laughed nervously, not sure if he would understand that she felt differently now.

"If I remember correctly, she couldn't be in the same room with you without turning into a tomato!" Mrs. Weasley cut in, grinning widely.

"Mom," Ginny groaned.

"Exactly the same shade as her hair, too!" Bill contributed amiably.

"Speaking of hair, Bill, I'm so glad you got a haircut." Mrs. Weasley changed the subject.

"Well, what kind of example would I be setting for my children?" He winked charmingly and unleashed his perfect smile. As conversation turned to Bill's lovely children, Ginny was once again transported to Hogwarts. Breathing in the scents from her notebook, she was there, reliving their adventures and remembering the heartbreak she experienced every time Harry stared longingly at Cho. She sighed heavily, wishing she could return to those days, filled with mystery and whirling emotions. Unexpectedly, there was a hand on her shoulder, and Harry was staring down at her with those gorgeous green eyes of his.

"I miss it too." He closed his eyes for a moment. "Makes me want to be a kid again."

"Come to the attic with me!"

**A:N/This is yellownotepaper with another new fic! Woohoo! We're on fire! Actually…..this isn't new. This was from Laur's single account, Charles Weatherby, and Erin edited it and added a bit here and there. So it is the NEW AND IMPROVED This Summer Is Different. Review away, darlings!**

**Erin and Laur**


	2. Chapter 2

_**This Summer is Different**_

_**By Yellownotepaper**_

**Chapter Two**

Ginny didn't wait for a reply. Her mind still had not registered Harry asking her out, and she forgot that he liked her more than she liked him. Grabbing Harry's bony wrist, she literally pulled him up every flight of stairs, practically flying. At last, they reached the aged, battered attic door. As Ginny slowly creaked it open, Harry was awed by the pure amount of _stuff _the Weasleys had piled inside. Late afternoon sunlight was streaming through the window, reflecting off the dust that had collected on the boxes and crates that were scattered about. Harry was captivated by all of the things that were actually his... Picking up his once-prized-possession, the Firebolt, he rubbed his fingers over the numerous cracks and stains in the wood, again reminded of how old they had all become.

"Are you gonna help me or what?" Ginny asked impatiently, pulling him out of the pit he was mentally wallowing in.

"Yeah, of course! Sorry." She giggled and started to plod through the endless mounds of papers. She finally reached a few of the crates containing their childhood belongings (Harry and Hermione had nowhere else to put their own things, so they had contributed to the Weasley's mess) and handed one to Harry. Instead of actually _cleaning_ the attic, Harry helped her take the boxes down to Ron's room. Much easier.

"Knock, Knock!" He shouted through the door, once they had set all of the boxes in the hallway.

"Coming!" Hermione yelled back, giggling. A few seconds later, the door clicked open and Hermione greeted them, quickly buttoning up her shirt. Leaving them to drag the crates along themselves, she retreated to the bed. She and Ron began to kiss and tickle each other playfully.

"Now, now, not in front of Ginny!" Harry exclaimed sarcastically, while setting the last of the boxes on the ancient wooden floor.

"Ha ha, very funny," Ginny rolled her eyes and plopped down next to the crates. Hermione pushed Ron away and sat up.

"What's in those?" She asked curiously.

"Hey!" Ron whispered, and began tickling her again. She laughed, but pushed his hands away again.

"Ron, stop it!"

"ANYWAYS, it's all this old stuff from Hogwarts..." Hermione grabbed Ron's lanky arms and pulled him over to the cardboard boxes, kneeling over them eagerly. They started to sort it all into piles, 'oo'ing and 'aah'ing occasionally, when Ron found something of interest.

"Hermione KRUM?" He blurted, surprised.

"Oh... 4th year... definitely."

"I remember that!" Harry exclaimed.

"Oh, I don't know how I could've gone out with him," Hermione whined unhappily. Ginny laughed, remembering how completely ugly Viktor Krum had been. "But, at least I don't have it written all over instead of my lessons!"

"Oh, so I missed a few History classes."

"Thank God it wasn't Potions! Snape would've obliterated you!" Ron said seriously.

"Ron! You're such a prat sometimes!" Hermione said, smacking him on the arm.

"Ow." She rolled her eyes and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"So, how are you coming along?" Ginny asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh... well, it's going to be a long five months..." She replied, rubbing her stomach affectionately. Ron crawled up behind her and put his arms around her neck, happily peering over her shoulder at all of the things from his childhood.

"Are you going to send it to Hogwarts?" Harry wondered.

"Of course! However, don't call the baby an it... That sounds unnatural."

"Any names picked out yet?"

"Robbie," Ron whispered softly, and nuzzled his fiancée's cheek.

"If it's a boy, Mr. Hopeful!" Hermione said incredulously. "If it's a girl... we were actually thinking Eden."

"Bet you can't wait until the big day..." Ginny ventured.

"Hermione Weasley." At the sound of her voice, Hermione's face lit up elatedly. "Oh, that's right... Ron and I wanted to talk to you two about something..." She grabbed Ron's hand for reassurance, and then continued in a casual manner.

"Ginny... would you like to be Robbie's godmother, and the maid of honor in our wedding?"

"Oh. My. God..." Ginny squealed, hardly believing her ears. "Thank you soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!" She was ecstatic, almost knocking the wind out of Hermione with her solid hug.

"Easy does it, Ginny." Hermione said. "Careful of the baby!" She acted in an offhand manner, but Ginny could see she was positively beaming. "Harry's already agreed to be godfather!" Hermione continued, trying not to burst into happy tears. "I'm sorry...I'm just so excited!" She let out a small squeal, and Ron began to rub her back soothingly. He hadn't said anything for a while, but Harry could tell that his friend was also about ready to explode from excitement.

"I'm so happy for you guys!" Harry said, smiling genuinely. "Umm... I'm just curious. Who did you get to be the best man?" For a few moments, Ron sat stolidly and stared at Harry, taken aback.

"Harry, you didn't think I'd get someone else to be best man, did you? You've been my best friend for 17 years!" Ron cried.

"Well... you didn't say anything..." Harry replied, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I thought you would know!" Ron exclaimed, grinning.

During their conversation, Ginny had been busily sorting through crates and thinking about how much fun the wedding would be. As she was placing some textbooks back in one of the boxes, a small, folded up piece of paper slipped out of "Hogwarts, A History" and fell to the floor. She picked it up, ignoring the others' conversation. On the cover, "To Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and any assorted Weasleys" was written in formal script. She slowly unfolded it, being careful not to tear the aged yellow paper any more than it already was. It read:

_Dearest Hogwarts' graduate of 1985, how nice it is to "speak" to you again. I'll bet you did not know that I owned an invisibility cloak, did you? Anyhow, this letter is somewhat of a warning. I just wanted to let you know that, to at least give you a chance. After all, it is the gentlemanly thing to do._

_Yours,_

Ginny squinted down at the letter, confused. It seemed to just end in the middle of the paragraph... and who had sent it?

"Er... Ginny?" Hermione said. "You haven't said anything for awhile."

"Look." All four peered down at the torn, crumbling paper.

"It's probably some stupid prank," Harry said dismissively.

"Probably that bastard Malfoy..." Ron muttered, earning a dirty look from Hermione.

"What?" he said, his face blank. Hermione rolled her eyes and kissed him, cutting off the sentence he was about to say. After a few more moments of discussion, (or in Ron and Hermione's case, snogging),they shrugged it off and returned to their memories once more.

They finally drifted off to sleep hours later, when Ron and Harry were beginning to "rest their eyes" while the girls were happily chatting about how great the summer would be. Soon enough, Hermione and her future husband were snugly curled up in Ron's ancient Chudley Canons themed bed, and Harry and Ginny slept uncomfortably on the cold, wooden floor.

**A:N/There you go. Another chappie. silence I have…erm…nothing to say now. Terribly sorry. Oh, and hi Nicole, Rachel, Melany, and ppl from t-girls!**

**Erin**


	3. Chapter 3

_**This Summer is Different**_

_**By Yellownotepaper**_

**Chapter Three**

"AHHH!"

Harry sat straight up in bed, his sheets sticking to his sweaty body. He wiped a shaky hand across his forehead, his breath coming out in sharp, unsteady pants. That was the – the scariest dream he had ever had. He hadn't had a nightmare since – well, since before he had defeated Voldemort. Badly needing a drink of water, he stood up quietly, trying not to walk on one of the creaky floorboards. He carefully stepped over Ginny's peacefully sleeping form, pausing only for a quick look at her angelic face before he closed the door.

Ambling into the pale yellow bathroom, he turned on the cold water, letting it flow into his shaking hands. He splashed it into his face, and then pressed the handle back into its original position, stopping the flow of cool water. Harry placed his hands on the edge of the sink, and stared into the large, ornate mirror. He studied the faded scar above his eyebrow in the bright white light that enveloped his senses so completely. It reminded him again of that final battle between Voldemort and himself….

In a matter of seconds, an ominous presence descended upon the Weasley household. Harry felt it deep down, his stomach turning over and scar buzzing painfully. He was aching for his wand, as he always had at the ready as a boy in Hogwarts. Deciding to retreat to the bedroom, just to be safe, he was attempting to muster up enough courage to dash across the hall. _You'll be okay... Just one leap..._ he told himself repeatedly, but still couldn't do it. _It's now or never..._ Suddenly, the burning intensified and his stomach tied itself in knots. His scar was throbbing more painfully than before. His breath turned shallow, beads of sweat trickling down his arms, and somehow he knew that he had lost his chance.

Fear gripping his heart, Harry quickly glanced at the section of mirror reflecting the doorway. A hooded, dark figure was hidden in shadow, just escaping the white glow of the bathroom. Its head was slumped forward, arms falling limp by its sides. He slowly turned to face the demonic figure, hoping against hope that this was just a figment of his tired mind. His heart thumping wildly, Harry thought of his friends sleeping blissfully in the quiet room across the hall.

"They can't get to them," he thought, trying to work out a plan in his mind. Sadly, his mind was not functioning properly, as the figure had just made a move towards him.

In a sudden movement, the figure snapped its head up and bore into Harry's soul with bloody, punctured eyes. Its hand flew up, pointing accusingly at him, and it began to advance. It didn't walk; it floated; its bare, worn feet barely grazing the tiled floor. Harry receded into a panicked craze, backing up against the glass shower doors. As the shrouded, bloody creature came closer and closer, Harry's mind slowly shut down. The ceiling swirled faster and faster as the lights began to dim. Darker... darker... darker... and soon Harry collapsed, fading into complete obscurity...

The room was sparkling in the morning sun, bright and still full of radiant dreams. Ginny slowly blinked open her eyes, taking in all of the world's small beauties that had filled the room overnight. Stretching her arms and yawning, she stood up, seeing, but not comprehending, the dreams gradually vanish. She smiled cheerfully, and made her way to the door. Briefly wondering where Harry had gone, she apparated downstairs for a nice, traditional, Weasley breakfast.

"Ginny!" Her harried mother greeted her, already enchanting multiple dishes to begin cleaning themselves. Still in a bit of a morning mist, Ginny simply nodded her head and sat down at the long dinner table between Bill and Charlie. She hesitated a moment before digging in, thinking it might be un-ladylike. Then she recalled that Virginia Weasley had never been accused of being ladylike in the first place.

"Well, someone's hungry today," Charlie said dryly, amused at Ginny's eating habits.

"Maybe you really ARE a Weasley!" Bill added approvingly. She merely grunted and continued to shove all of the scrumptious food into her mouth as fast as humanly possible. While eating, she was vaguely aware of her brothers still staring at her, but she was too tired to care.

Once she had finished her fair share of food, more than enough by her mother's standards, she wandered over to the sink. Quickly pecking her mum on the cheek and thanking her for the wonderful breakfast, Ginny apparated up to her own room. It had been deserted since she was 19 years old, so it was a complete dump. She had more fun staying in Ron's room with the other three anyways, even if it did make her back hurt like hell.

Staring at the mess her room had become, she felt increasingly sad, wondering where the charm it used to possess had gone. The faded yellow paint, which had once been so vibrant, was peeling and chipped. Light was flowing forlornly through the window, broken into fragments by the many cracks that had spread through the dusty glass. Even the belongings she had dumped inside earlier that week had been absorbed into the lonely aura that was radiating from the walls. The bed was made, had been for years, which only added to the neglected feel of the room.

She drifted over to the empty closet and placed her hand softly on the splintered wooden doors, but she tore her hand away immediately. Her hand was still tingling, and she stared at the door uncomfortably. Quickly moving away, she rubbed her arms vigorously to get rid of the cold, sinking feeling that had surrounded her. She decided to forget about feeling worthless for the time being, and hurriedly pulled on a blue tank dress and straw sun hat. Apparating out to the garden, she approached Charlie, who was busying himself with ridding the yard of gnomes.

"Have you seen Harry lately?" she asked, still a bit shaken by the creepy feeling she had gotten in her room.

"I see you're awake now!" he remarked, and then laughed as if he had just seen someone shoot milk out of their nose. "And I haven't seen him. Sorry."

"Don't apologize," she said, smiling at him.

Instead of continuing her search for Harry, Ginny helped her brother get rid of a particularly difficult gnome. She then forgot all about the strange experience in her room, and proceeded to sunbathe on the front lawn.

After an hour or two of sunbathing, Ginny awoke from her deep slumber to find a horde of wild gnomes running about. Muttering the only incantation she remembered that didn't have to do with healing, a flash of light exploded from the sky. Closing her eyes quickly, Ginny waited until she couldn't hear the gnomes' laughter anymore. Once this occurred, she opened her eyes again and saw that her spell had indeed succeeded. The gnomes were frozen in place, glancing around fearfully. She swiftly plucked them up off the ground, and chucked them over the wooden fence behind the house.

Raising her hands in victory, she paraded through the front door. While she expected at least_ someone_ to be in the living room, she found no one. However, she did spy a piece of notebook paper taped to the mantle.

Dear Weasleys,

I'm sorry if any of you are worried about me. I was called upon for some urgent ministry business. I should be back soon, but one never knows.

Yours Truly,

Harry potter

The handwriting didn't look quite like Harry's, but then again, she hadn't really studied his lately. After all, people change, why shouldn't their handwriting? She wondered why it was worded so formally... _Well, Aurors need to be formal sometimes, _she reminded herself.With that, she went back to Ron's room for another fun-filled day with Hermione.

Hermione Granger loved gossiping as the next person, but even she couldn't hold up for 3 ½ hours straight. Stretching exhaustedly, she stood up.

"Oi, do you Weasleys have any board games? I'd quite fancy a game of Candyland," she asked Ginny, as they had exhausted all topics of conversation.

"Check the attic; I'm pretty sure I saw some earlier."

"All right, I'll be right back." Hermione plodded over to the door and tirelessly climbed the flights of stairs leading to the attic. Upon reaching the door, she carefully nudged it open and surveyed the mess hidden behind it.

She couldn't conceive how _anyone_ could deal with such a mess being in their own _house_! However, she was a woman on a mission, and promised herself that she would organize the attic later. Shaking her head vigorously to rid herself of this temptation (which was very difficult, she was a woman after all), she plodded through the mess of papers to the overflowing shelves. She sorted through piles and piles of boxes and belongings, she found everything from old spell books to a bunch of letters addressed to Gilderoy Lockhart that Mrs. Weasley had never sent. What she didn't find was anything of entertainment value; not so much as a set of gobstones or wizards chess, let alone muggle _board games_. After disentangling herself from three lengths of rope that were hiding amongst the papers, she trudged disappointedly back to Ron's room.

"No luck?" Ginny remarked as Hermione slowly stepped into the room. She shook her head and crossed her legs as she sat down next to Ron.

"Oh, you know what? I think we put all that stuff in Ginny's room after she moved out." Ron exclaimed suddenly, eyes squinted from all of the mental exertion.

"So you're making me get up _again_?" She stared a Ron incredulously. He smiled broadly and nodded.

"Well, we could always go to sleep. I mean, it's already 6:18 pm!" Ginny said, faking a yawn, while Hermione rolled her eyes.

"All right... I'm getting up..." Hermione staggered to her feet, and then hobbled overdramatically to the open door. With one last glance at the pair of laughing Weasleys, she disappeared into the hallway. Making sure they couldn't see her, she apparated down to Ginny's room instead of taking the stairs; she tired quite easily, and climbing up and down the steps to the attic was enough for one day.

After appearing in the room, she warily eyed the closet's decaying, splintered wood. Muttering a charm, she slipped her wand out of the back pocket of her jean shorts and pointed it at the eerie doors. In seconds, the doors were painted a charming shade of purple and looked like they had when the Weasleys had first bought the Burrow. Deciding the rest of the room needed a sort of pick-me-up as well, she satisfied her craving for organization by magic-ing up Ginny's old room. The glass was wiped clean and no longer cracked, the walls were stripped of their depressing wallpaper and painted a painful but somewhat pleasant white. The dresser was given a new layer of paint like the closet, and the floor that it sat on was polished and shiny.

Her urge to clean subsiding, Hermione placed her wand, which she made a point to carry at all times, back into her jeans pocket and plopped down on the now-plushy bed.

_Wow... Ginny and I may have to sleep in here one night! _She thought. The bed was much more comfortable than Ron's was... and the room much more hospitable. Happily jumping to her feet, she danced joyfully over to the closet once more and flung open the lovely lavender doors. Indeed, her dear Ronald was correct, a great amount of both Magical and Muggle games were piled on the top shelf of the beautified space. Trying repeatedly to reach it, standing on the very tips of her now-sore toes, Hermione soon realized that she was just too short.

Summoning the blue footstool from the bathroom, she stepped up to the shelf and grabbed Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, and a Wizarding Chess board. Throwing them on top of the bed, she jumped off the footstool and made to close the closet doors, when she noticed a wet sensation near her right ankle.

Stooping down, she gasped to see a wide ribbon of blood trickling down into her white socks, coloring them a gruesome pink. It had taken her by surprise, but she resolved that she must have cut herself while straining to grasp the games. Pushing it out of her mind, and charming the cut so it would stop bleeding for the time being, she quickly went to shut the doors and apparate back to Ronald's room.

However, she was soon quite confused, because they wouldn't shut. There was a dull, thumping noise each time the door was about three inches from the frame, which she found a bit peculiar. Itching to make it normal again, she remembered what Ron had said that time when he had unwittingly mixed veritaserum and thouspien. _'Hermione, you're such a perfectionist-I wish you would lighten up once in awhile! Everything has limitations, flaws. You can't make everything faultless.' _(The finished potion had made him tell everyone what he thought was his or her major flaws-Harry and Hermione had had to bring him to the hospital wing.) She chuckled bitterly; who knew Ron even understood such large words at sixteen? Nonetheless, remembering this prevented her from trying to fix the door any longer. Exhibiting relentless self control, she snatched the games off the bed and plodded over to the door, with only one last scornful glance at the broken closet door.

"Oh my god! What happened!" Ginny cried when Hermione appeared back in the room. Ron's brain suddenly snapped into place, and he rushed over, taking her hand.

"Sweet Merlin, Hermione," he said, helping her sit down. "What did you do to yourself?"

"I don't know, I guess I scraped my knee or something when I was trying to reach those games." She shrugged and motioned to the three games sitting on the bed in the corner. Still worried, Ginny quickly leaped across the hallway to grab a wet paper towel. When she came back all of two minutes later, Ron dabbed the dried blood away carefully. To their surprise, there was no cut, no scrape, no bug bite, even, that all of the blood could have come from. The only blemish on Hermione's leg was a small, elliptically shaped birthmark to the right of her knee.

"Maybe when you stopped it from bleeding, it closed the wound!" Ron exclaimed hopefully.

"No. I don't think so. That's an entirely different charm, which I would've used, but you can only use it if your injury is much bigger. I'm not really sure."

"Is there even anything in my closet that you could cut yourself on? Besides the rotting wood, I mean."

"No, it was empty. By the way, I-er-fixed up your room up a bit. No more rotting wood." Hermione smiled despite her confusion. "But-I'm not sure if this has anything to do with anything-the door wouldn't close. It sounded like something was stuck between the door and the wall, but, like I said, your closet was empty."

Everyone grew quiet. Ron had plunged deep into thought, and if you've never seen him deep in thought, it's quite an alarming experience. While he and Ginny wore almost identical-although Ginny looked intellectual instead of frightening- facial expressions, things kicked into high-gear in Hermione's mind. She went through every possibility over and over, until she came to a stunning conclusion.

"Well, I suppose we should just go check it out." This was met by worried stares from both Weasleys, for different reasons.

"Are... you sure we should go in there? What if it's dangerous?" Ron said nervously.

"Hermione, you're pregnant! You probably shouldn't poke around where it might be hazardous to your health," Ginny said, biting her lip.

"All right... maybe Ginny should go. I need company if I'm going to stay here, and I don't think Ron could handle it if there _is_ something there." Ron was acting defiant, but both women could tell that he was inwardly relieved at this statement.

Ginny put on a brave face, and courageously saluted her brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law as she disappeared through Ron's door.

Thudding down the stairs, creaking open the door. Pounding over to the closet, fumbling for the door handle, scraping open the doors. Silence.

Then a blood-curdling scream.

**A:N/MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! A cliffie! I LURVE to torture the poor little helpless…I mean ahem that I will update soon if you review. Yes..yes, that's it.**

**Erin**


	4. Chapter 4

_**This Summer is Different**_

_**By Yellownotepaper**_

**Chapter Four**

The next ten minutes were a complete blur to Ron, who upon apparating into his little sister's room, almost fainted at the sight of Ginny lying unconscious on the floor. He steadied himself and rushed to her aid, propping her up with pillows from her bed.

Hermione was almost as worried as Ron was about his sister; after deciding that the pillows weren't enough, they carried her up to the bed so she wouldn't have to lie on the cold, hard floor. Hermione was scouring every inch of the room, and just as they were about done supporting Ginny again on her bed, a piece of cloth caught her eye by the closet. Ginny had only opened it a few inches, so you could only see into it if you were standing right by the opening.

While Ron was worriedly brooding over Ginny, Hermione cautiously tiptoed over to the doors. Carefully picking up the slip of cloth, she pulled out what appeared to be a cloak, and, quickly realizing what this meant, she flung open the closet doors.

She audibly gasped, eyes tearing up in shock. Blood was flowering out in a dark puddle, and, suddenly, things went blurry. Blindly groping around the closet, she found his shoulders and pulled him to her chest, tears silently running down her pale face. Clutching her face painfully, she blinked rapidly, trying to clear her eyes.

"Ron! Get Ginny off of the bed!" She cried, abruptly snapping back to her normal, bossy way of thinking. _What was I doing? _She mentally scolded herself for letting her emotions take over and hurriedly began to rush about. Upon laying eyes on Harry, Ron's eyes widened in shock and he began to tremble almost uncontrollably. As he dragged Ginny's limp body off the bed, Hermione muttered the same charm that she had performed on her leg just fifteen minutes earlier, only it was aimed at Harry.

He was a mess of blood; she couldn't even tell where it was all coming from. The most obvious place was his forehead… whatever had happened, someone had screwed Harry up very well. In the place of his scar was… a bloody hole. You could see the pinkish white of his skull through the blood if you looked very hard, which was very disquieting.

"I thought Ginny said he left a note…" Ron said softly, shivering and patting Hermione on the back. She was crying silently into his shoulder while Harry was lying on Ginny's bed, barely conscious. The whole thing was a huge mess.

**A:N/Sorry, short chappie I know, but I can only go off of what Laur already wrote until she writes the next chappie. Very very sorry. Really. I am. snickers Here, howabout a deal – you review, I'll get Laur to write another chappie. Sounds good to me!**

**Erin**


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